Meet Victoria
Charming wife, sometimes shrew. Cat mother, book lover. General contractor, dictator. Loather of noise. Hater of disruption. Gardener, bookcase fetishist. Adorer of the oversized and ornate. Obsessive-compulsive procrastinator. Lover of fashion—wearer of pajama pants. Coveter of architectural salvage. Hoarder of priceless junk.
Meet Paul
Magician, storyteller, fixer of all things broken. Project engineer, mover of walls, slayer of lathe. MadMan, Fred Astaire, voice of reason. Performer of comic skits. One-man demolition crew. Fetcher of giant, unwieldy, Craigslist treasures I cannot live without.
Meet Elvis
How we got here:
How we ended up buying a crumbling Victorian house, and restoring it room-by-room.
Browse our projects:
Bathroom details, Kitchen ideas, Materials, Frustration, Construction…
I’m loving your blog. You have a scintillating voice and vibrant way of expressing yourself.
And I think your husband is a heckuva guy.
Thanks for dropping by my little corner of WordPress.
Thank you!!! He is definitely a heck of a guy. Renovating this house has left me astonished at his competence… Which isn’t to say we never have skirmishes over who is the Project Manager.
So I kinda, sorta nominated you for some bloggy awards today because I think you’re awesome.
http://storypiece.net/2012/09/18/awards-and-pop-culture-fluff/
I am totally buying you a first-class ticket to my acceptance speech.
Yay!! Champagne and warm towels here I come.
Also swag bags… I hear all the good award shows have them.
I am so glad I found your blog. I laughed; I cried; it was better than Cats. Cats the musical that is because nothing is better than cats the animals. Speaking of which, it looks like Elvis must have strong opinions about what you do with your house.
I don’t want to be too hasty… but this may be the best comment I’ll ever receive.
I nominated you for the One Lovely Blogger Award! For more details: http://thehesoproject.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/lovely-blogger-award/
Thank you so much! I’ll compile my list of brief but witty anecdotes… and try to come close to the humor of your literal-ness!
Love love love love your writing style! I’m sitting in Seoul. I’m supposed to be sightseeing. I’m supposed to be meeting a friend at some market, somewhere. Instead, I am sitting here, already late, reading about varnishes and home improvement and giggling endlessly to myself. I rarely, if ever, read other blogs so this says a great deal. You’ve got such a unique voice. Very funny, very engaging, very well done! Keep up the awesome work!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You absolutely made my day!!
p.s.- your blog just ate a chunk of my life. Your trip is astonishing! The things you’re doing? Are the exact opposite of anything that I would ever try. Ever.
Ever.
Always enjoying your beautiful site, and now I am letting you know that I have nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Details of this award can be viewed on my site. Thanks for all the inspiration.
Hey! Thanks for the lovely surprise!!!
I wandered over from Apartment Therapy, and then I had so much fun that I’m subscribing. It seems like most of the people commenting on this page have some sort of award that they’re nominating you for. I don’t have any awards to give out, unfortunately. Maybe I should invent one.
Gretchen @ BoxyColonial recently posted…Baby’s First Trip to Ikea
Hey! Thanks!! I MUCH prefer no-pressure praise and approval— so I’m actually happier with the lack-of-award…Besides, I hate getting dressed up for stuff, and who has time to write thank-you notes?
Your url is fantastic. Amusing, and memorable, which is something I totally flaked out on…
I also just wandered over from Apartment Therapy, and I absolutely adore your writing style. Also, I now understand why my parents, who have been remodeling the houses we lived in since my sister and I were in the womb, appear at times to be insane.
Thanks for commenting… You made my day. It’s going in my folder of “nice things strangers said, that made me feel awesome.” It’s like the antidote to residual high-school anxiety…
I came from a family where no one is handy at all… so at first, Paul’s extreme fixing-ability seemed like an amazing miracle, and I wouldn’t have believed anyone who told me it might ever make me crazy.
hi. rich from the writer’s group today. i knew i had forgotten part of an answer to a question you asked, and i just remembered it now. it was about people leaving comments and you/we/us leaving comments.
one random day i read a poem on someone’s blog, a woman from india, and i left a comment. had no idea who she was or how i happened to land on her blog, but i did. so i leave a comment, and she gives a most astonishing reply. she said something like, “thank you for leaving a comment. i have always wondered if you would ever read my writing. i have seen your comments on many other blogs and always hoped you might read something of mine. i’m glad you liked my poem.”
i was amazed that a woman halfway around the world would have any idea who i was or what i was doing. for her to be thrilled just because i made a comment on her page was just too strange but also amazing. so – you just never know…
That’s interesting! The internet makes for a surprisingly small world…I met a woman, randomly via our blogs, who lives less than ten miles from me and is also renovating an old Victorian.
You are a breath of fresh air. Love your thoughts
Thank you! You made my day…
First of all, let me say that I laughed so hard I was crying as I read about your DIY projects. I found you through Garden Web, on the kitchen forum because I am always on there, since we are remodeling our kitchen. I so identified with you. My hubby is a very talented woodworker, who is building our cabinets as I type this. I am always showing him my Pinterest boards and we are knee deep in Better Homes Kitchen and Bath magazines. The guided tour of your kitchen had me laughing so hard, my DH wondered what I was doing. Just as you dream of the beautiful Victorian home with the cabinets and 14ft ceilings, I drool over gray shingled colonials with white kitchens, marble counters, and a view of the Atlantic(preferably in Nantucket) I will have to post pictures of my kitchen, as each phase is done(we are on phase 2) DH says it should be done in the fall(I hope he means of this year) I love your garden! I too, love to garden AND…… I love Zinnias!!
See, we should so be BFF’s. Love your blog. Keep us all posted on your latest project.
Your comment absolutely made my day… you MUST post photos of your kitchen!! I too am drawn to marble, but my inner control-freak is counseling me to choose something that won’t require me to scream at people every five minutes about touching it. We’ll see how that goes.
Zinnias are the ONLY annual I’m doing this year… anything else in comparison is totally unsatisfying. I need to stake them this year, though… last summer, by August they were out of control and falling over… and probably made the mildew issue worse than it needed to be.
So nice to “meet” you!! Thanks for commenting!!! I needed a new BFF!!
Just curious, where do you get your zinnia seeds from? I am going to do state fair zinnias this year.
Johnny’s
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-112-zinnias.aspx
They also carry a house brand called “Giant Dahlia” zinnias, and I’ve been just as happy with those as the “real” Benarys…
I’ve had people recommend state fair to me…